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Aston Martin Vanquish and V12 Vantage Roadster – Gallery

You may have spotted the new Vanquish at Goodwood, and before that being driven around in various towns for photo shoots. And more recently, you may have seen the new V12 Vantage Roadster being driven around London, again, for various photo shoots.

But now, the photos are in, the cars have been launched, and my my, they’re beasts to behold.

The V12 Vantage Roadster has been in the pipeline for a number of years now, as everyone knew that a Roadster variant would come for the V12 just as it came after the launch of the V8.

And the name ‘Roadster’ is key, as it denotes that the car is not singularly designed as a GT car, but also as a sports-convertible, much in the same way that Ferrari’s 458 Italia Spider has had the roof removed, but is still made to be a performance car.

So, the V12 Vantage Roadster has the same torsional stiffness as the coupé, in theory meaning the car can be hurled around on a mountain road and remain as un-phased as the hard top.

It also has the same 6.0 litre V12 as before, putting out 517 bhp and 420 lb/ft of torque, and sending the car to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds (‘officially’ the same as the coupé, but owners have reported sub-4 second times) and on to a top speed of 190 mph.

“I believe no other car in this class offers the combination of the V12 Vantage Roadster’s prestige, six-speed manual gearbox and the unique enjoyment that driving a high performance convertible can deliver,” said Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez.

The new Vanquish, however, is different. Apart from the fact that the name has been stolen from a car that only went out of production five years ago (will we see a new DBS in five years time to replace the ‘new’ Vanquish?), Aston has managed to find an extra 50 bhp from the same V12 in the V12 Vantage and the DBS (565 bhp). Torque has also been increased by 40 lb/ft to 460.

This, the “pinnacle of the luxury British car maker’s sports car line-up”, can get from 0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds (not the sub-4 second time that many were expecting), and on to a top speed of 183 mph. It seems the new Vanquish is not only slower at the top end than the DBS which could do 191 mph, but considerably less than the Vanquish of old, which in ‘S’ state could do more than 200 mph.

There are upsides, however: the boot space is 60% better than that of the DBS at 368 litres, and the body is made entirely of carbon fibre, hence a 25% increase in body stiffness.

“The Aston Martin range is stronger now than at any time in our 99-year history. The new Vanquish represents the perfect way to signal the beginning of our centenary celebrations next year.”

How much will customers pay? £150,000 for the V12 Vantage Roadster, and £189,000 for the Vanquish, but neither of the cars will be delivered until 2012, by which time Aston Martin will be gearing up for its centenary celebrations.